1. Field
One or more embodiments relate to a write operation or a read operation of a flash memory, and more particularly, to a technology associated with compressing input data of the flash memory and storing the compressed data.
2. Description of the Related Art
A flash memory may be a non-volatile memory that maintains stored data even when a power is not supplied. The flash memory may include a plurality of memory blocks. The flash memory may provide a function that can electrically erase and re-write data stored in the memory blocks.
Each of the memory blocks includes a plurality of cells. Here, the flash memory may have various types of cells such as NAND and NOR according to a physical structure of the cells. In particular, since a NAND flash memory may store a large capacity of data and may adopt a high density, there is great interest regarding NAND flash memory. Currently, the NAND flash memory is being widely used as a storage medium, and the like, for a portable device, for example, a mobile phone, a digital camera, an MP3 player, a camcorder, a personal digital assistant (PDA), and the like.
Each of the cells may be constructed to have a transistor. In a general flash memory, a threshold voltage of the transistor may be adjusted to program data or to read the data. In this instance, the cells may be classified into a single level cell (SLC) or a multi-level cell (MLC) according to a number of threshold voltages of the transistor.
The flash memory may need to be well designed in a situation where an area and a cost are limited. In particular, additional devices may be provided in the flash memory in order to reduce the size of data stored in the flash memory.